The instructor sounds like a total jerk. I bet he's a young instructor with a chip on his shoulder about women.

I'm sorry but it is his responsibility to TEACH you and if he isn't teaching the students properly then he is at fault.

If a technique doesn't work for one of my students I try to find other ways until I find something that will help them learn to do it.

Just because he's there in front of the class does not mean he has the right to belittle and degrade the students performances. Teaching Martial arts is about helping each other to learn, and being respectful of peoples abilities, not showing off in front of the class and making students lives a misery.

Keep asking him to show you how to do it properly, and if he won't or can't help you then I'd leave and go to a dojo that will treat you with respect. You will go much further and enjoy it while you are doing it.

HE needs to learn how to be a better teacher IMHO. He wouldn't last 5 minutes in my dojo with an attitude like that!

You stand up tall and talk to him. Be brave, you can do it!

Tell him from me that all students need respect, if he doesn't get it then you know what to do.

In my experience some male instructors are not good at working with us women, so they try to make things hard so that the women leave so they don't have to cope with it, whereas they need to grow up themselves and get a life.

Old thread, but it reminded me of a story that one of my instructors told to me after a class one night recently.Our school had an instructor back in the day who treated this one female student very harshly for no reason.Everyone liked the instructor, and nobody had any problem with him except the one student.But she wouldn't quit. She kept at it, and wouldn't back down.Today she is a 5th dan black belt, and one of the best instructors at our school.The male instructor had a brain hemmorage and died suddenly at the age of 52.

We have an old instructor at our school who teaches a class on forms every other saturday morning. He's a 7th dan black belt.His classes are great, and I learn a lot from them, but his personality is a bit harsh. I think that he comes from the old school, when certain instructors wanted to be feared, with the intent that his students would try harder, ie: scare them into good karate.At first I disliked the guy, and considered dropping his class, but even though his instructing style is rough, he's right on when he corrects me, and I do find myself thinking of his advice when I practice on my own.I spoke with the owner of the school about it, and he laughed.He explained that his bark is much worse than his bite, and if I could get past the personality, I would learn a lot.He also explained that this instructor uses that approach to find out which students are willing to work through things in order to learn. In other words, he's trying to instill mental toughness in us along with the physical aspects of karate. Now I find that I look foward to his classes because he brings a lot of knoweledge to the table, and I feel like I'm being challenged.I guess that sometimes you have to have a thick skin, and give a little to get a lot.That type of training isn't for everyone, but it motivates me to bring my A-game when I come to his class.

I tend to look at an abrasive instructor as a test of my mettle as a martial artist. I guess that if he is teaching good stuff, with some attitude one should see it as an opportunity to build charactor. This easy for me to say as a person on the outside looking in. I just think that life is full of tests that while being hard, they make us stronger in the long run. I guess my point is that abrasive or not this 7th dan is probably great at kata.

Thanks, Mark.He's the best teacher of kata in our school. In fact, all of his classes are on katas, and the other instructors, and most black belts attend his classes regularly.After I became comfortable with my first kata, and did it to his satisfaction, he asked me, since I will be tested in a few weeks, (white to orange belt) if I had learned the second kata yet.I said no, and was told to bow out and sit.My gut told me that I had better know something about the second kata before I came to his next class. I had a feeling that he wouldn't let me bow out the next time around, so I got with a friend from class, and he worked through it with me on a few occasions over the next two weeks until I was familar with it.Sure enough, I was made to do that kata at his next class, and did pretty well. I have 6 months to perfect it before my next test, (orange to blue belt), but his prodding made me get off of my ass and learn it.P.S.: In case you were curious, our school doesn't have a yellow belt rank for adults. They make you stay at white belt longer than most other schools, (usually six months minimum), Then they test us for orange belt.

Keep on training choonbee!! Your school sounds a little like mine in that we don't have yellow belts either. In our school you go from white to white w/green stripe to white w/2 green stripe to white with 3 green stripes then you test for green belt. Let me tell you all that time with a white belt kept me humble and was a big motivator to move on to my green belt. I better close for now because it is time to go to class. Yeah.

Speaking of instructors, I sure am pleased with mine.He is so patient with our class.I can't imagine having to field some of the questions that come up in class.Believe me, I have asked some of the dumbest questions. You know the kind. The ones that after you say it you have the right answer in your head and wished that you kept your mouth shut. Oops. Any way last night in class my sensei dropped the bomb on us. WHA-BAM!! He said that three of us are going to be testing on May 7. We were looking around and I guess I'm testing for 5th kyu. This certainly puts training into high gear. In our school the testing for rank are grueling, but when finished are so rewarding. There will be more to come on this. This should be interesting in that this will be the first time that I will be the highest rank to be tested. I'm not so sure that I like that. I guess I will have to have some courage as I'm not particulary a good tester. NERVOUS NELLIE!